Duty to the Princess
by Adyen
Summary: With Galaxia gone, everyone can get back to the lives. However, when sudden kidnappings happen all around Tokyo, what will happen to the senshi, and will they find out the truth before it's too late? On a REALLY long hold!
1. Chapter 1

An Alt SailorMoon Fanfic: Duty to the Princess By Adyen (senranda@yahoo.ca)  
  
Author's notes: To those who are interested in my other fics, I can honestly tell you that I'll continue them. one day. I even have the next chapter of one of the other story done, but it's so *bad* that I'm going to post two chapters for that in a row, just so you can skip one and read the other.  
  
A word of caution. This fic can potentially go Dark if I can't think of a good ending for it except for what I have. The story starts after the end of the series, and it doesn't matter if you read the manga or watched the anime. There will be very little reflecting to that except general knowledge. It's a pretty transparent plot, really, but it's just an idea.  
  
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Osaka Naru waved good bye to her friends as she walked towards the Crown Center. After two years of sudden break-off, her ex-best friend, Tsukino Usagi had approached her one day and asked for her forgiveness. She warily forgave her, but their friendship is still shaky, as Naru felt that Usagi had betrayed her when she suddenly broke off all contact and fell into a group with a few of the other students.  
  
However, that was nearly a month ago, and they decided that they should have a small get together and find out what has changed with each other. Never mind that Naru would be early and if Usagi was par on the course, she'll be late.  
  
As she turned a corner, she thought she saw something. a streak of gold, flash into a nearby alleyway. Curiosity got the best of her, and knowing that she would only be waiting for Usagi when she got to Crown, she turned down the alley, out of sight, and alone.  
  
There was no scream.  
  
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The police calmly nodded to the girl sitting on the couch. It had been two days since the disappearance of one Osaka Naru, and those who last saw her have been given 'the Talk' from the police. All that's left is to talk with one Tsukino Usagi.  
  
"...we just got back together so I asked Naru-chan to meet me at the Crown Arcade, you know where it is, right?" She barely whispered, looking at the two officers, who nodded and encouraged her to continue. "We, when I got there, I asked Motoki-kun, you know, Furubata Motoki? The newly promoted manager of the place?" The two men nodded again. "Well, I asked him if Naru-chan arrived yet, and he said no, so I waited. I mean, normally I'm the one who's late, so I thought I'd wait for her and maybe joke about me getting there before she did, but then she never came and so I phoned Mrs. Osaka, but she said Naru-chan wasn't at home nor did she phone home, so I panicked and went around looking for her but I couldn't find her." At this point, Usagi had started sobbing while covering her face with her hands. "If only I wasn't always so late Naru-chan would be alright~~~" She wailed between her hands.  
  
The two policemen calmly tried to inform her that it wasn't likely because of her lateness that caused Naru to be kidnapped, but they might as well tried to push the planet into the sun.  
  
If only they knew.  
  
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A week after what happened to Naru, Setsuna got a surprise visitor.  
  
"Usagi-hime! Come in!" Meioh Setsuna said to her princess, who was standing at the front door of the condominium the Outers owned.  
  
Usagi nodded and said, "Thank you" before entering their home.  
  
Once inside, Setsuna poured Usagi a cup of tea, and asked, "So, what brings you over, hime?"  
  
Semi-flinching at the title, she gingerly played with her drink for a few minutes before asking, "Why do you Outers protect me, or Serenity?"  
  
Blinking, Setsuna mentally shakes off her surprise by answering, "Well, we all love you, Usagi-hime. We can't bare the thought of you getting hurt."  
  
Usagi blinked and turned to face the senshi of time. "Is that why? It has nothing to do with me being Princess Serenity?" She pressed.  
  
"Well." the elder senshi drawled, "of course, we all have our duties to the Princess, but you have to understand that we were born with that duty. We choose to protect *you*, and we would even if you weren't the Princess."  
  
Usagi seemed to be daydreaming, her lips silently repeating something that Setsuna couldn't make out. Then suddenly, she seemed to blink out of it, and turned to her host. "Thank you Setsuna. I won't bother you anymore."  
  
With that, she got up, bowed, and before Setsuna could say anything more, was out of the lot and out on the streets.  
  
"Weird." Setsuna muttered, not seeing nor hearing Usagi repeat, "Duty to the Princess."  
  
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That night, another kidnapping happened. This time, it was a friend of Naru, who had decided to go out for some reason around 6PM, and never returned home.  
  
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Well, please review on this. I think it's a pretty simple start and could branch into a lot of different things. Comments of any sort is always welcome, but I'd prefer it if you just leave a review on FF.net. My yahoo email account is getting kinda full. ^_^;;;; 


	2. Chapter 2

An Alt SailorMoon Fanfic: Duty to the Princess By Adyen (senranda@yahoo.ca)  
  
Author's Notes: Yay! I'm getting reviews! ^_^ Thanks for anyone who read chapter one...  
  
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The police quickly realized that the disappearances were not an one- time thing.  
  
It has been four weeks since the disappearance of Osaka Naru, and ever week, another teenager around her age would disappear as well.  
  
At first, the primary suspects of at least helping the kidnappers were friends of Naru, seeing that the second person who disappeared was one of her friends. However, that was quickly forgotten for two reasons: One was the fact that nobody had any reason to kidnap them. The second because the third and fourth kidnappings took place on the other side of Tokyo.  
  
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For Aino Minako, things quickly went from 'normal', to 'strange', to 'suspicious'. It all started on the day when the second teen was kidnapped; when Sailor Pluto, otherwise known as Setsuna, asked the other senshi if Usagi, their princess, had visited them and asked them a strange question or not.  
  
She was about to reply 'no', when she heard the doorbell, and her parents opening the door for someone. Peeking out, she found that it was Usagi entering with a somewhat cheerful look on her face, but any long-time observer of her would notice the tinge of strain in the smile.  
  
Minako quickly led her friend into her room, and cheerfully (or at least as cheerfully she could pretend to be) asked what Usagi was doing here.  
  
It seems that Usagi was there to ask a strange question, especially coming from her.  
  
"Why do you guys always protect me?"  
  
Minako was somewhat stunned for words. After the two years of hard battles, she would have thought that Usagi, of all people, would understand why all the senshi protected her. Anger bubbled below the surface of her normally cheerful mood and she replied, in the calmest voice possible at the time. "What do you mean 'why do you guys always protect me'? Why *shouldn't* we protect you?"  
  
Usagi hesitantly answered the rhetorical question. "I don't deserve all of you to protect me..."  
  
"That's bullshit!" Minako had cut in, grabbing Usagi's hands. "You're the most wonderful, caring, loving person I have ever met. I don't care who told you otherwise, but it's true. No matter what you do, who you are, we'll still be here for you. We're not doing this because you're Sailor Moon, nor is it because you're some reincarnated princess of some dead kingdom, nor is it because you may one day become the Queen of some magical kingdom in the future. We care about *you*, and if you're in any kind of trouble, just tell us, and we'll help however we can."  
  
Usagi stood there, stunned at her friend's words. For a moment, things were silent as they stared eye to eye, with the senshi of Venus firmly holding the senshi of the Moon's hands. Then suddenly, like the snow melting to the mid-day's sun, tears formed around Usagi's eyes and she leaned her head in, onto Minako's shoulders, crying softly as if she's just been told that her parents survived a nuclear bomb dropped on them.  
  
This went on for half an hour or so while Minako awkwardly, for the lack of a better term, petted Usagi's golden hair and murmured soothing words to her.  
  
By the time Usagi was done, it was around 4, and before she left, she told her, "Thank you Minako-chan. I really needed that." Leaving a somewhat confused Minako watching Usagi leave, then paging Pluto on her communicator, saying, "Yes, she did."  
  
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However, that was the last time that Minako had privately seen Usagi. For the next day, Usagi seemed to be her own cheerful self again, though with a touch of sadness. Understandable, seeing that another person suddenly disappeared, not to mention she was Naru's friend.  
  
It was when the third disappearance happened that Minako started feeling more than 'strange'. The day after that happened, Minako asked for all the senshi to meet in order to talk about the recent happenings. Seeing that the shrine was being used that day, they met at the Outer's home instead.  
  
When they all arrived, Usagi being early for once, Minako started the meeting.  
  
"As you all know, three girls has disappeared in the past three weeks." Sensing the hurt feelings coming from Usagi, she turned to their leader and apologized. "I know you don't like it when people brought it up, but this is becoming a serious problem." Everyone nodded, though with Usagi it was reluctantly.  
  
"I think it's time that the Sailor Senshi started to look around. We have more chance to find whoever is doing this, not just because *most* of us can be bait, but also because we can communicate with each other through our communicators, which doesn't look like one."  
  
Surprisingly, *very* surprisingly, the both the Outers and Inners agreed on helping, except Usagi.  
  
"We don't know if the kidnappings would continue." She argued. "Or the police may find them before, and if, there would be a next kidnapping."  
  
Things became tense at this point. The feeling lasted until Minako conceded, though reluctantly, to the point. "Alright, then we'll hold off for now, but if it happens again, we'll start our search."  
  
Everyone started to leave at the point, lead by Usagi, but Ami and Minako stayed behind.  
  
"Did that seem weird to you guys as well?" Minako asked. Everyone there nodded. "You would think that Usagi would be the first to *want* to look for whoever took Naru."  
  
"She does have a point, I guess." Ami commented, frowning. "But I highly doubt that these disappearances would just stop because Usagi thinks the police would find them."  
  
"You're right." Setsuna said. "I'll keep an eye from the Gate, while Haruka and Michiru can start informal patrols around the area. Minako, I suggest you stay with Ami and try to find if there's some kind of pattern to these disappearances. Your experience from London will help us now."  
  
Agreeing to the plan, they quickly left to their own investigations, while Hotaru promised her housemates (or parents, depending on your point of view) coffee when they returned. 


	3. Chapter 3

An Alt SailorMoon Fanfic: Duty to the Princess By Adyen (senranda@yahoo.ca)  
  
Author's Note: Ok, I lied when I said I'd start with RMMW. I re-read Duty and found that I left it at a very interesting part, and decided to give some juice to this story first. I WILL be finishing the re-write for RMMW, just not first.  
  
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Everyone has been worrying over the kidnapping for over three months now. The police, and everyone else, has theorized that the kidnappings happen every month or so, maybe for some sort of ritual or something, but there was no solid evidence as no body was ever found.  
  
The fourth month started off with Uranus and Neptune calling a meeting, post haste. So, everyone was seated in their house, waiting for those who were farthest from the place to arrive. Interestingly enough, it was Minako who had the most trouble arriving, as she had to either change buses three times, or get a ride from Haruka.  
  
When the final member arrived, everyone seated themselves and waited to see why this meeting was called.  
  
Michiru glanced at Haruka and then at Usagi. Seeing her princess' questioning look, she started, "We were returning from shopping in a nearby district," (the agreed upon alibi) "when we thought we saw one of the girls who were kidnapped."  
  
Usagi's face paled while the others leaned in. "Did you know who it was?" Minako asked, not noticing her princess' reaction. That doesn't mean Pluto, Neptune, or Uranus didn't notice.  
  
Shaking her head, Haruka said, "No. By the time we started chasing after her, she had disappeared."  
  
Makoto slammed her right fist into her left palm, and suggested, "Why don't we go check tonight? The police think that the kidnappings happen around once each month, so maybe we'd even catch the kidnapper while he's there!"  
  
Everyone nodded except Usagi, who was going to say something when she noticed Setsuna looking at her like there was something on her face. Usagi bit her tongue and reluctantly said, "I guess you're right. But we can't all go, especially now, since the finals are approaching."  
  
Everyone boggled at Usagi using *school* as an excuse to not do senshi stuff, but Setsuna agreed. "She's right. While catching the kidnapper is important, your schooling is quite important as well. Here's what we'll do: Two Inners with two Outers each day; Mars and Venus, Jupiter and Mercury; Uranus and Neptune, me and Saturn." She turned to her princess and asked, "Would it be alright if you went on every three days? You'll rotate with each group, just in case we actually need you to stop the kidnapper. Of course, if it was only a normal human, we should be able to capture him or her easily, but..."  
  
Usagi slowly nodded and said, "Alright. Who's going first?"  
  
"Me and Saturn with Mercury's group. Do you wish to join us today, or with Uranus tomorrow?"  
  
Usagi closed her eye for a moment, thinking, then opened them again. "Tomorrow. I need to get home soon, so I rather not get yelled at by mother."  
  
Everyone hid a small smile as Setsuna nodded. "Haruka will drive those of you going home back. I think you'd want to use the phone, Ami."  
  
Everyone started moving when Minako asked Usagi, "Where's Luna? I haven't seen her for quite some time now."  
  
A startled Usagi turned back to Minako and stammered, "Uh... She's been sleeping a lot lately. Every time I get home, the lazy cat was sleeping!"  
  
A somewhat awkward silence appeared between them for a few seconds before Minako giggled and said, "Sometimes, cats are just like that."  
  
Usagi weakly laughed before leaving quickly to Haruka's car.  
  
Minako frowned and watched as Usagi retreated. Something was very wrong, and she intended to find out what.  
  
That night, the kidnapper struck again. on the other side of town. 


	4. Chapter 4

An Alt SailorMoon Fanfic: Duty to the Princess By Adyen (senrandayahoo.ca)  
  
So, anyone one to take a guess at what's happening? Grin I certainly gave enough clues as it is... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------  
  
"It's like the kidnapper knows where we would be!" Makoto growled as she and Minako left the school. Usagi had detention, something rare for her these days, and Ami was discussing the information she got with Setsuna, hoping to find a pattern.  
  
Minako kept quiet as Makoto stormed to herself. There was something fishy about the entire situation, but she just can't put her fingers on it...  
  
"Let's go visit Luna." Minako suddenly interrupted. "Maybe she'll have some idea we didn't think about."  
  
"Good idea." Makoto said. "Should we wait for Usagi?"  
  
Minako was about to say yes, when a weird feeling passed through her. She glanced around suspiciously, but didn't find anything out of the ordinary. However... "No, I'm sure Usagi wouldn't want us waiting here for her when we could meet her there." She said, surprising herself slightly, but followed along her own idea. Makoto nodded and they head off towards the Tsukino household.  
  
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Ringing the doorbell, the two senshi waited for someone to answer. However, as seconds turned into minutes, Makoto rang the doorbell again to no avail.  
  
"Strange... Why isn't there anyone here?" Minako asked herself as she looked around the yard. It was like other yards, but a bit messier and less well kept. The mail was taken, but there were no lights on inside. Looking up to the balcony of Usagi's room, Minako made a decision.  
  
"Makoto, boost me up?" She asked as she stood below  
  
"Are you sure you should do this?" Makoto uncertainly asked Minako, but starting to kneel down never less.  
  
"Ya... Something's weird here, and I intend to find out what." The gymnast said as she propelled herself up to he ledge with Makoto's help and looked in to Usagi's room.  
  
Normally, while Usagi's room is not the neatest of place, it was moderately kept orderly by Usagi's mother. However, the room that Minako saw was more than a mess, it was filled with things she didn't even know what it was!  
  
"What on Earth..." Minako started to mutter to herself before hearing Makoto's warning that Usagi was coming. She quickly hid to the corner of the balcony and hoped that Makoto hid as well.  
  
For a few minutes, there was no sound other than the normal Tokyo 'background' sound. However, she soon heard a key turning in a lock, and the door to the Tsukino house opening, then closing. She counted to 3 before scrambling off the side of the balcony, and dropped to the floor below.  
  
Makoto quickly appeared with a questioning look on her face. Minako shook her head and made a finger over her mouth, before leading the Senshi of Jupiter out and back into the streets.  
  
"We have to tell everyone about this... Something's really wrong with Usagi, unless her entire family went on some tour without her, I think she's been alone for some time." 


End file.
